Murray excited for Top Prospects Game

Defenseman Ryan Murray is captain of the Everett Silvertips in the Western Hockey League. The 6-foot, 182-pound native of Saskatchewan was recently named captain for Team Cherry at the 2012 Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Kelowna, B.C. He recently won a bronze medal playing for Team Canada at the 2012 World Junior Championship. Despite the busy schedule, Murray continues to provide a monthly blog for NHL.com that will chronicle his season leading up to the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Hi everyone!

Ryan Murray (Credit: Christopher Mast)

First of all, I'm really looking forward at having the chance in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game. It is going to be a lot of fun and a great opportunity for myself as well as other players in the CHL to showcase themselves. It is going to be an intense game, like it always is, and I think that will make it even more fun.

They haven't told me what skill I am going to do yet, so I'm getting a little bit nervous for that. I did the passing into the six nets at the NHL RDO camp in August, and that was pretty tough. I would like to have another crack at that one. I think that is the one that I would be best at, since I consider passing one of the key elements to my game.
 
It was a pretty eventful month for me. The World Junior Championship was an amazing experience. Hockey Canada took great care of us for the entire month, and there was a great group of guys on that team.

The fans [in Edmonton and Calgary] were absolutely incredible, I have never seen anything like it. You couldn't hear yourself think sometimes during those games. There are not enough good things that I can say about the experience, and playing at home was extremely special.

The game against Russia for me isn't one to forget, but one to remember. It was one of the biggest hockey lessons I have learned in my life. Three pucks deflected in off me, and one bounced off my skate right to a Russia player wide open in the slot. It was the hardest thing to overcome in my career. I learned that no matter how bad things get, I have to move on from them and can't dwell on the past. It was great that we could regroup as a team after that game and come home with a bronze medal ... something that was very important to all of us. The medal is now in my room, and will probably get put in a frame later on.
 
Here in Everett, we have had a tough season. The first half was full of injuries and inconsistencies and we never could get rolling. The second half so far has been much better, as we are all learning what it takes for us to be successful and the effort that success demands. With all of our first year players, I think a lot of them are beginning to realize how you need to play every single night in order for our team to be successful. We are currently in a hunt for the playoffs with 4 teams, and it is going to be a very exciting second half.